Per Aspera Ad Astra
by Lumiax
Summary: It was weird...how everyone looked at him with pride in their eyes, how everyone praised him for doing all these exceptional things. Exceptional things that were expected from him, Exceptional things he didn't want to do. I caught him staring at the clouds, but that was all. He only stared at the clouds, but never reached for the stars.


**So this is the first story I've written in a _very_ long time.**

 **I hope it's acceptable and yeah, hope you enjoy reading it :)**

 **Please tell me if something is wrong with the events happening or anything grammatical :)**

 **Thank you so much for reading, feedback is always appreciated.**

* * *

I first met him at the academy.

In the beginning, I didn't know how to think of him. He was quiet, almost silent. He never talked more than necessary and only if the teachers called him out.

He was a good student, a very good student. Things like "child prodigy" or "genius" were whispered around him.

He was exceptional at everything, be it Math, History, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu.

The teachers loved him.

To me, he was just a little, silent boy.

He graduated two years later, at the young age of seven.

* * *

The next time I've met him, has been one year later.

I was just taking a stroll around the park when l saw him sitting on a bench, looking at the sky.

He didn't look like an eight year old boy, the look in his eyes was so much older, it knew to much. Way too much.

I quietly walked towards him, and in the blink of an eye his head snapped in my direction.

He stared, I stared back.

I sat down next to him, leaving enough space in between us so it wouldn't feel more uncomfortable than it already did.

He observed me only a second longer, then he turned back towards the sky.

I also tilted my head to watch the slightly pink hued sky, then, without introducing myself, I simply asked,:"Why are you watching the sky?"

He didn't even turn his head, in his soft and still rather high voice he said,:"Because the clouds look so free."

Definitely not an eight year old.

* * *

The rumour spread around that the Uchiha Clan Head, had another son.

When I was buying groceries, he stood in the baby supplies section, buying things for his little brother with a genuine smile on his face, his eyes radiating fondness.

* * *

During my seventh year at the academy, I saw him again.

Wearing a chūnin vest, walking around the village.

His eyes still seemed so distant, so dull but intelligent, observant, knowing and always watching.

The younger girls fawned around him.

I personally thought they were still too young for that.

We walked past each other, he nodded at me, I nodded back and gave him a smile.

He seemed a little shocked, but then he caught himself again and returned the smile.

I at least though it was one.

The corners of his lips lifted just a little bit and slight amusement could be seen in his eyes.

Then we both returned to our usual routine.

But we met again that day, I found him, standing in front of the Hokage monuments.

He studied the face of the fourth so intensely, like he could find an answer in the out of rock carved eyes of the former Hokage.

I stood beside him, also studying the monument, then he did something unexpected, he turned his head and asked me something.

I looked at him expectedly.

"Do you think, the fourth regretted sacrificing himself for the village?"

I looked into the face of the fourth Hokage.

"No."

I didn't think he needed an explanation, I think it was just this little word he wanted to hear.

* * *

A year later, the rumours about Uchiha Shisui committing suicide ran around and died down again.

* * *

I graduated normally, as any normal academy student would.

With nine years of academy on my back, I've finally reached the first rank of hierarchy.

Genin.

The day I graduated, I took another stroll into the park were we had our first "conversation".

I think it was either irony or meant to be, but there he sat, on the exact same bench he sat those years ago.

He wore his ANBU clothing, his porcelain mask resting on the left side of his face.

I sat next to him again, while his eyes watched me, like he was looking for an answer.

But I couldn't give an answer without a question.

So we sat there, just a tad bit closer to each other than the last time.

His eyes found the sky again and we fell into a comfortable silence.

But today, it was me who broke it.

"I thought about it."

He looked at me.

I explained.

"The last time we sat here, you said that the clouds looked free."

He nodded, I looked towards the sky.

"But how free can you feel if you are in a constantly moving on the same path, always watching the same scenery until you fade away into nothingness. Aren't you also chained to that path then?"

He didn't say anything in a long time, staring into the above and seemingly thinking.

Then, in a voice, much deeper then I remembered, he replied.

"Isn't watching from above, even if it's the same scenery, better then staying at the ground and having to confront the problems on earth?"

I didn't know how it connected to the things I said, I didn't know if it was even meant to connect to the things I said.

But I replied anyway.

"But isn't that just running away?"

His eyes darkened.

"Sometimes running away just seems like the best option, the best path that you can choose from."

I pondered for a second.

"It depends on the other choices."

I replied.

He stilled. His face was the epitome of calmness but his fists were clenched and held the bench in a death grip.

"It's a choice between the village and my family."

My eyes widened a little.

I was sure that, what he just told me was classified information.

We didn't know each other at all, but he seemed to trust me enough to tell me this.

I knew there has been a rumour going around, The Uchihas great Coup d'etas.

I looked at him as he seemed to find the floor the most interesting thing in the world.

What a loyal boy.

Because that's what he was, a boy...a boy with the burden of a whole nation on his shoulders.

Every ounce of respect I had in my body, I poured into this one look and said.

"Per aspera ad astra."

He looked at me questionably.

"It's a code that ran in my family for ages"

It wasn't.

"It means, Through hardships to the stars. Either way you choose, it's your choice. Just don't let them rule your life. You have to reach for the stars."

He looked at me so intensely, I thought I was going to explode any minute now.

The he nodded, stood up and went away.

He had made up his mind.

And I knew which choice he had taken, I knew it from the start...

Before he was out of reach, he yelled.

"Congratulations on becoming Genin!"

What a kind boy.

* * *

Three days later, the whole Uchiha Clan was massacred, leaving only a traumatised eight year old behind.

* * *

I had started my own adventure, raising my ranks little by little.

But he still was on my mind sometimes.

And I always think back to the pink tinted sky when I look into the eyes of his younger brother during one of the unintentionally meet ups at the groceries store.

* * *

It is rumoured that he joined the S-rank criminal group Akatsuki.

I reached my chūnin status.

* * *

It happened so much.

Orochimaru.

Shukaku's Attack

Pein's Attack

The village had to suck up so many things.

And I slowly claimed the title Jōnin.

Then the real stuff began happening.

The 4th Shinobi war.

A blonde hero being our leader.

* * *

Before the start of the war, I searched through the forests. My teammates watching the base, I was sent to scout and check the surroundings. Sensing the faint hint of chakra somewhere in the woods, I ran towards it.

That was where I last saw him.

He laid in his own bed of blood, the Akatsuki coat covering the bloody parts of his body, his nearly lifeless eyes looked unfocused into the sky.

It stopped raining a couple hours ago, but his hair was still damp.

I walked towards him and kneeled beside his head.

He didn't have enough strength to turn his head anymore so as gently as I could, I lifted his head and set it down in my lap, his eyes facing mine.

I smiled sadly.

He tried to smile back, his muscles not following his will.

I brushed back a couple strands of his hair and looked into the, of course, pink hued sky.

"I..."

His weak voice croaked. He looked so young. Too young to be dying, but that's the world we're living in.

"I tried...to reach...stars...", he whispered.

I smiled again.

"But...it still...ruled... my life..."

I gulped, then opened my mouth to say.

"I know. You've always been too kind. You reached for the stars but didn't want to neglect the earth didn't you..."

He gave a faint, nearly nonexistent nod.

"You're a hero.", I whispered.

He used up his last energy and gave me a real genuine smile, the smile I normally just saw on his face when he talked about his brother.

"Thank you...but I'm not."

And with those words, he closed his eyes.

I shook my head and smiled into the setting sky.

'Such a kind boy.'

Then I looked back into his still smiling face.

'What a cruel world.'

* * *

 **Again, thank you so much for reading :)**


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